Wonderful Reads for the Quirky & Discerning Book Lover
Amy Lynn McConahy
Jul 24, 2022
Getting Dressed Up
Today I was able to wake up with a renewed sense of purpose AND my mind must have finally acclimated to our surroundings because I felt 100% more myself. My early rising tendencies served me well as I went down to breakfast at around 7am. I then proceeded to talk for 5 straight hours. You heard that right, 5 hours. Not a record by extrovert standards, but considerably more than I normally talk in a day. And after I had some lunch to refuel, I went back and talked for another 2 hours. To share all that I talked about over the combined 7 hours of talking with the vendors in the Market would take more space than I have here. I can honestly say that it felt SO GOOD to be out and talking to like-minded strangers again. That sentence might sound mind-boggling to the introverts among us, but for an extrovert who had to (due to the pandemic and having small children) essentially lock herself away and rely primarily on online communication for over 2 years it was blissful. On top of that, because I have a passion for authors and small businesses, passing the day chatting about the successes and struggles of publishing and the market was lovely. I suppose that I am gushing, but I haven't even gotten to the good part yet. The banquet!
I don't know if you know this, but the Realm Makers Awards Banquet is a costume event. The theme this year was Time Travel (complete with the leader Scott Minor dressing as Dr. Strange). Taking this theme to heart, I decided to dress as the future of Clean Fiction Magazine complete with a crown of stars (hopefully all 5 stars, but any stars are good in my book! ; D). The wide array of book cosplay costumes was staggering and the quantity of nerdy/geek shows that showed up in the costumes was overwhelming. I have never been to something like Comi-con, but I would imagine that this is kind of what it would be like. Everyone spent so much time and creativity on these costumes and it was wonderful to be able to enjoy them all. My dress had the desired effect, everyone looking at me and wondering what the heck I was wearing and why. So I can say that was a success. I did have several people who have seen me walking around with my Clean Fiction t-shirt earlier in the weekend come up to me and compliment my attire. Which was kind of them. I did feel like a million bucks, but that might be because I LOVE dressing up, especially in costume.
My final thoughts on the day are a colorful array of positive experiences. Today made the entire trip worth all of the worry, travel, and nerves. I highly recommend that if you are a Christian Author in a fringe genre you give Realm Makers a chance because it is so refreshing to be amongst like-minded Christians.